Baddour, D-Methuen, who is Senate chairman of the Legislature's Transportation Committee, said the review is necessary to ensure safety and restore the public's confidence in the heavily traveled $15 billion tunnel and bridge system.

"You need a complete, independent review of the entire Central Artery (project)," Baddour said yesterday.

Baddour said the review needs to begin with the Ted Williams Tunnel, where at least 12 tons of concrete fell late Monday night onto a car, killing newlywed Milena Delvalle, 38, of Jamaica Plain. She and her husband, Angel, who was driving, were headed to Logan International Airport. He tried to pull his wife out and was treated for minor injuries.

The tunnel is the city's main access to Logan.

Baddour also called on Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Chairman Matthew Amorello to resign.

"The focus should not be on saving one person's job but ensuring the safety of the tunnels," Baddour said.

Congressman Martin Meehan, D-Mass., speaking from Washington, D.C., said the accident has cast a bad light on the state.

"This project has been a national embarrassment since Day One," Meehan said.

"This is criminal negligence. The fact is you have a woman who has been killed," he said.

Meehan said he has been in touch with Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly's office and has encouraged him to conduct an investigation. Reilly, a Democrat, is running for governor.

"I think there should be a criminal investigation, and we need quick answers," Meehan said. Amorello, he said, "honestly should have been gone a long time ago."

Reilly yesterday said he is treating the collapse of the concrete slabs as a crime scene that could lead to charges of negligent homicide. His office began issuing subpoenas yesterday to those involved in the design, manufacture, testing, construction and oversight of the panels and tunnel, including the Turnpike Authority and project manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Reilly said the investigation could look at any state and federal agency that signed off on the project.

"What we are looking at is anyone who had anything to do with what happened last night," Reilly said. "No one is going to be spared."

The U.S. attorney's office was investigating but had no immediate comment.

Baddour said Amorello isn't to blame for the entire fiasco - the Big Dig has its roots in the Dukakis administration. So, Baddour said, he'd like to see staff changes at the Turnpike Authority beyond Amorello.

Gov. Mitt Romney has been trying to oust Amorello, most recently by expanding the board from three to five members and appointing people loyal to him to give him control of the board.

The Legislature, however, tried to undo those appointments through its fiscal 2007 budget. Romney, a Republican, vetoed those changes, and Baddour said the Legislature should let those vetoes stand.

"We should allow for the new members to come on board and begin the process of building public credibility," Baddour said.

Romney yesterday cut short a New Hampshire vacation and visited the fatal scene.

"People should not have to drive through the Turnpike tunnels with their fingers crossed," Romney said. "Neither I nor anyone else could be or should be satisfied until we have new leadership at the Turnpike Authority."

Meanwhile, commuters into Boston said the accident has put them on edge. Gina Kucker of Haverhill, who often takes the Callahan Tunnel under Boston Harbor when traveling to her job as a supply chain manager for Lucent, said the accident makes her wonder about the safety of Boston's new tunnel network.

"The first thing they said was not to worry about it and that (the collapse) was only in one section. It seems they came out pretty quickly with that statement. It's a little disconcerting," Kucker said. "You wonder, is it really isolated to that section so you don't get concerned? Or is it more prevalent? That's what I'd be worried about. Was it isolated to that one section or not? I think it's questionable."

Commuters debarking the train from Boston yesterday afternoon at Railroad Square in Haverhill said they did not think the tunnel accident delayed their trip.

"It did not affect my commute, but it does concern me," said Federico Bachman of Lawrence. "It makes you think about how things are built. Why can't they have better construction standards?"

The accident also has Baddour thinking twice about how he'll get to work today at the Statehouse.

Like many North of Boston drivers, Baddour gets there by driving over the Leonard Zakim/Bunker Hill Bridge and through a tunnel under Boston's financial district, both part of the Central Artery Project.

Baddour, who today heads into Boston to attend the Legislature's constitutional convention, said he's a little "queasy" thinking about driving to work and said he's considering taking another route to Beacon Hill.

Staff writer Brad Perriello contributed to this report. Material from the Associated Press was also used.