The additional time and expense devoted to safety isn't without it's own costs.
It took eleven years for One World Trade Center to exceed the height of the Empire State Building; it took over 13 years for it to open. Granted, it's a larger, more complex building—but still, that's a remarkably long time.
Human life simply isn't priceless: it's obviously not worth $1 trillion to save a random person. Nor is it worthless: it's obviously worth 50¢ to save almost anyone. Somewhere in between, there's an economic balance. I recall reading that from numerous estimates of the value that people place on their own lives (through insurance purchases, risk ratios when pursuing various activities &c.) that we tend to value our lives at about $1.5-2 million.
A safety regulation which costs significantly more than that to save one life is, quite literally, not worth it.
almost?
Construction began on One world trade Center in 2006 add 13 years and that's 2019.
Construction of below-ground utility relocations, footings, and foundations for the new building began on April 27, 2006 On May 10, 2013, the final component of the skyscraper's spire was installed, making the building, including its spire, reach a total height of 1,776 feet (541 m). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_World_Trade_Center#Plannin...
PS: Now, if you want to start the clock from the first idea we might want a new building (Sept 11, 2001) then the Empire State Building also took a lot longer than 1.5 years.