To expand a bit on my previous answer...
The daily freeze/thaw cycles in the fall and spring can wreak havoc on the roads - when the snow and ice clears in the spring, it's always a process of familiarizing oneself with the new, sometimes exciting hazards. The roads around here will generally be good/great for a short time, then they'll go through a period of a few years where they'll pick up a crack here and a pothole there, but they're still very rideable and the hazards are easily avoided by those familiar with the road... and then, one spring day, you'll find the the road surface has been horribly brutalized over the winter and you'll want to completely avoid that stretch until it's repaved - this period will sometimes be a year or two.
Regardless of surface conditions, there aren't many roads in my immediate vicinity that are suitable for road riding, whether it's because of traffic, lanes/shoulder considerations, intersection frequency, etc. There are plenty further out from the metro, but getting to those areas is often influenced by the condition of a handful of key access roads/paths. If I look at my ride maps over the course of years, I clearly go through phases where the bulk of my rides shift and take place in a certain regions of the metro and surrounding areas. Sometimes this is because I've found/been introduced to a new area, other times it's boredom with the same scenery, but often it's because of the condition of those previously mentioned access routes. If there are only a couple routes to cleanly get out to the certain area, I'll stop riding to that area if/when the roads to access that area go to ****.