I stop at a triggered traffic signal every morning. I roll up and put my SPD cleat down right over the pavement cut where the loop is, and without fail this starts the crosswalk countdown timer to my left.

So this happened the same way this morning, except that when the counter got to 3...2...1... I picked up my foot and started to roll forward (light goes green at 0), and watched the red hand (STOP) turn back into a white figure (WALK). My light stayed red, and at this point there was a car behind me waiting too. The roads were empty so I ran the light, leaving the car to wait another cycle.

Anyway, try an SPD cleat if you have them, but don't lift until you actually have a green.