Yes, actually. I am surprised how well it works, but it does. I noticed that despite being generally unaware of cyclists' rights and too often aggressive, they are, on average, more likely to yield to a cyclist than to a driver. In Toronto anyway. My theory is that they're afraid that you're going to dart left right after signalling, and in general most of them don't want to squash you. Some of them may even think they're legally obligated to yield to you - not surprising, since they're generally ignorant. Usually that means they assume you have fewer rights than you actually do, but in some cases it's the opposite (e.g., many seem to think cyclists have the ROW at stop signs).

Of course, if you think this method does not work well in your situation, there is always the tried-n-true pedestrian crossing (at least if there is a light or a crosswalk).