Does the past limit modern development?

While in Istanbul, our tourguide informed us that while the city was attempting to build a subway system to connect both sides of the city thats seperated by water, the construction workers found archaeological remains which haulted any further construction until a full excavation had taken place.
I recently read an article of this happening in Rome. While building a transit line, construction workers uncovered Hadrian's ampitheatre. Construction on the transit line came to a hault in order to excavate the ampitheatre. While this archaeological discovery is astonishing, one must wonder if it is ethical to limit modern development to study the past?

The construction of new architecture and the implementation of technology, like subway systems, is essential for large cities. There are many large cities with rich archaeological history and it must be a huge burden on the local population to have to deal with numerous excavations getting in the way of construction. This is especially true for the construction of transit lines which are supposed to make peoples lives easier. Moreover, archaeological excavations can take years to complete, therefore who knows when construction can continue.

While it is important to protect and learn about the past, it is equally important to build infrastructure and sustain the populations that are currently living in said cities.