[mazugrin2]

The cones aren't to alert the pedestrians the the crane. The cones are to mark out a path in the road for pedestrians and to alert auto drivers to that path. As an American I get that you don't typically walk anywhere but I can't believe you've never ever encountered a set of high visibility cones marking out a temporary path around construction equipment on a roadway.

[bobthepanda]

In much of the US the default is to close the sidewalk if it exists and require pedestrians to use the other side of the road.

[Symbiote]

I've found this very annoying on a recent trip to the USA.

There's 3+ lanes of road. Close one of these lanes to cars and let the pedestrians use it!