Congrats and welcome to the commuting 'club'!

For a light that won't trigger (I had one on my commute in NC - nothing I could do would trigger it and there were rarely any cars on my morning leg to trigger it for me), it's totally ok to hit the crosswalk button and then get back into the road to wait for the signal. I used to do that all the time. I'd ride up to the intersection, onto the sidewalk right there and hit the button. Then I'd scoot my bike back out onto the road before it changed. (Before anyone freaks about the riding up onto the sidewalk - there were no cars AND no pedestrians at this time of morning!). You do what you have to do! I figure it was better than running a red light (my only other option!).