I don't understand what the designers had in mind.
I accept the logic for a demand light vs. a regular timer if trail use is relatively light, since there's no need to have people stop and wait for no reason at all. After all many road intersections work the same way using vehicle sensors. Possibly a sensor vs. a push button would address the OP's issue.
However, after that the rest is nonsense. A simple green for trail with a corresponding red for the road is SOP design and there's no reason to tinker. The interval lengths need to be functional, ie. a yellow long enough to allow slowing to a stop vs. a surprise hard braking (4-5secs?), yet not long enough to encourage "racing the yellow". The crossing interval should be long enough for someone with limited mobility to make it across, possibly with a yellow to the road user as the crossing interval ends to remind drivers to wait until all crossers make it through.
Another example of why road engineers need to be reminded of the importance of KISS, and not overthink problems.
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Last edited by FBinNY; 08-03-23 at 04:42 PM.