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Originally Posted by Belmont Resident
any road that has been abandoned reverts back to the landowner and is then considered private peoperty. Only active roads can be considered open to the public. Many of these will change from public to private when they cross from one town into another that is why you need to beware of where you are.
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The term "abandoned" has no real legal meaning. If a town simply stops maintaining a class V road it may revert to class VI but it is still a public right of way as I already noted by citing the law.
A town road may be totally "discontinued" only by a town meeting vote. If this is passed by majority vote then the public right to pass is extinguished and the the abutting land owners have full control/ownership of the land.
It may take some research to determine the current legal status of any non town maintained old roads. Some may sill be Class VI, some may actually have been legally discontinued (not common), some may have never have been class V or VI public rights of way (like some of the original range roads) and some may have always been private roads.
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231:45-a Discontinuance of Highways Subject to Legislative Body Approval. –
I. No class IV or V highway shall be discontinued or discontinued subject to gates and bars without the vote of the local legislative body as required by RSA 231:43 or RSA 231:45.
II. No vote or other action of the governing body shall be effective to reclassify a class IV or V highway as a class VI highway, except for the failure to maintain and repair that highway in suitable condition for travel thereon for 5 or more successive years as provided by RSA 229:5, VII.
III. Any municipality which neglects to maintain and repair a class IV or V highway, without the vote of the legislative body, shall be subject to proceedings under RSA 231:90 or RSA 231:82 at any time prior to the lapse of the 5-year period under RSA 229:5, VII.
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