Traffic Dissonance

This week I had to drive through an area where there was construction. The traffic lights were flashing red. Everyone knows that means stop and then proceed when safe to do so.

However, there were construction workers standing there waving everyone on, indicating we didn't need to stop. Rip...Pop. Something broke in my brain. Not stop at a red light? It was an uncomfortable feeling obeying the live person against all the normal rules. Couldn't they have made it flashing orange and saved us the cognitive dissonance?