add_page_menu to make shortcut to widgets

You can add a link to the widgets.php like that:

add_action( 'admin_menu', 'f711_add_widgets_shortcut', 999 );

function f711_add_widgets_shortcut() {

    add_menu_page( 'Widgets', 'Widgets', 'publish_pages', 'widgets.php', '', '', 61 );

}

Be sure to check your permission settings, and you may also include another image. You can find the documentation about the function at The Codex.