The roads are usually dirt, often pocked with holes, sometimes gated off. By law, they don’t need to be maintained by the town or city. Common to rural New Hampshire, they seldom draw attention.

But this year, Class VI roads could play a new role in the push to reduce the state’s housing shortage. A law signed by Gov. Kelly Ayotte would remove local barriers to development on the roads. And not all rural lawmakers are pleased.

“My towns that I work in, they are not happy,” said Rep. Lucius Parshall, a Marlborough Democrat. “The idea that they will be held liable for keeping a Class VI road accessible if somebody should happen to want to build on it? That’s going to be an expense for the community. A lot of these communities are already strapped.”

The new law is one of many this year int

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