No offence taken or intended but having repaired, installed, updated, [and I'm afraid been called out at midnight to "stuck" sets of lights that were working absolutely as intended, usually by the police no less] for over 20 years I really do mean that t/l detectors, even the temp sort do not respond to lights, either flashing or not [think about it, bright sunlight would render them almost useless]. It may seem so but it's the result of having "something to do" which makes the time pass faster. I do admit the temp jobs can be a bit "iffy" however, [they are after all only a stop gap and have a hard life being bounced in and out of vans etc]. Be aware also they must allow for even a slow vehicle to clear the work section during which time they will [or should] remain at red at both ends thus extending their red time and therefore the wait.
For best results [sounds like a cookery recipe] approach sitting up in direct line of sight with the detector at about 10 - 12 mph ish or a bit more if you want. The range is limited however so don't expect it to see you from much over 30 mtrs or so.
One other thing about major sets of lights that often causes confusion is that the timings often vary dramatically during the day depending on the programming, ie morning - max time on green to get traffic into town, evening - max time to get it out.