Alert reader David wonders about the flashing yellow light over the Greenway crossing at 28th Street in Minneapolis — is it just to warn cars that you the biker (pedestrian, dogwalker) are coming, or are they supposed to stop? There’s a similar crossing a bit farther along, at Minnehaha Avenue. What’s the protocol at such crossings, generally?

Eric Hart, a board member of the Greenway Coalition, said that according to state law, an orange flashing light means “drivers of vehicles may proceed only with caution.” (Read it for yourself here. It’s gripping, believe me.) A red light means cars must stop.

This does make for an uncertain and possibly unsafe situation — some cars might stop while others cruise on through. Such was the case in a fatal accident at a trail crossing in St. Louis Park a couple of years ago.

I had a similar experience just the other day at the Minnehaha Avenue Greenway crossing: One car stopped, but there were others approaching, so we bikers didn’t dare cross. The driver who had stopped got annoyed and honked when we didn’t proceed. But safety overcame our Minnesota Nice impulses and we stood our ground until all lanes had stopped or were empty.

Seems like clarity (cars should always stop or always go) would serve everyone better, and Hart says the Greenway Coalition is on the job.

At the 28th Street crossing, they’re going to narrow the road and put an island in the middle, so there will only be two lanes for cars. They’re also researching how other states do it.

Perhaps some of you know how it’s done elsewhere.

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