I've been commuting to work for about a week now and it's been going really well. I have a good route that keeps me off of the main roads, so my commute has been mostly non-eventful. However, there is one intersection that I have to tackle and I'm not sure of how to do it.

It's a T intersection, and I am approaching the stop sign with traffic crossing in front of me. Similar to this:


The issue is that on some days the traffic at that intersection can be 15-20 cars deep. So what is protocol here? Do I wait in line with the cars? Do I ride up the side and get in front of the front car? Or should I just avoid the intersection by taking a marginally longer route? I should add that I'm taking a left at the intersection, as are 90% of the people in line.

I've been waiting in line, as I don't want to be seen as the jerk cyclist who jumps the line and slows people up. Should I do otherwise?