The state will pump more than $5 million into projects in New Britain, Berlin and Windsor Locks as it tries to spur development along CTfastrak and the soon-to-be-completed Hartford Line.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced the grants Wednesday morning as part of a $15 million plan for encouraging so-called transit-oriented development of apartments, retailers and commercial businesses across the state.

Clinton, East Windsor, Madison, Norwalk, Stratford, Wallingford, Winsted and several communities in southeastern Connecticut also will benefit from the grants, in most cases using the money to improve pedestrian and cycling access.

“These projects are about much more than our transportation system — they are about building stronger communities where people and businesses want to be,” Malloy told reporters at CTfastrak’s hub station in downtown New Britain.

Malloy used the opportunity to make a pitch for beefing up transportation funding in the next state budget, cautioning that a Freeze on current spending levels would force train and bus fare increases along with service cuts, delay of bridge and road repairs as well as workforce cuts that will make snow plowing slower every winter. Malloy repeated his refrain that the state must make up for decades of poor maintenance of roads, bridges and transit systems.

”For too long Connecticut has let its transportation system languish. It’s hurting our economy, it’s holding us back,” he said. “Without a vital transportation system we can have no transit-oriented development.”

Windsor Locks First Selectman Christopher Kervick, whose town is getting $1.84 million to build parking and a retaining wall for its Main Street commercial district, endorsed the idea.

“Somebody asked ‘Why do we continue making these investments in difficult economic times?’ We do so because they work. Windsor Locks is living proof of that,” Kervik said.

In his town, developers are ready to convert the long-vacant J.R. Montgomery Building into 160 apartments. Locating a boarding platform for Amtrak and the Hartford Line in the town center has made other downtown redevelopment possible, he said, saying builders’ interest is “at levels we haven’t seen in years.”

Malloy cited the expansion of the Parker Place apartments near Wallingford’s new Amtrak station and development of the empty Columbus Commons property near CTfastrak as evidence that nearby transit can spur new housing and business.

“CTfastrak is a catalyst for growth. We are making targeted economic investments and it’s paying off,” Malloy said. “Without a vital trasnpsortaiton system we can have no transit-oriented development,” the governor said.

Transportation Commissioner James Redeker warned that “without transportation, our economic growth wil be stymied if not reversed.”

The state will award about $15 million to communities and regions, largely for planning, engineering as well as infrastructure — from sewage plants to redesigned roadways and pedestrian walkways.

In the first round of grants, it is allocating about $5.4 million. The largest awards include just the Windsor Locks grant; nearly $2 million to improve New Britain’s pedestrian access from a parking garage to CTfastrak; $537,000 for Berlin to aid environmental cleanup near the Hartford Line station; and $600,000 for Winsted to uypgrade sidewalks on Whiting Street and study how to improve pedestrian and traffic patterns around Main Street.