Walking in Waterloo Region

[goggolor]

I've noticed that the intersection of King Street and Willis Way in Uptown Waterloo seems to be a "beg button" crossing (where the walk light doesn't come on unless the request button is pushed in advance). I was in Uptown on Friday and two separate occasions watched groups of people waiting to cross the street get confused when the traffic light changed but the walk signal didn't. I seem to notice this more during the day so possibly this is configured for off-peak hours only?

This has to be one of the more active pedestrian intersections in Waterloo, why can't they just assume that people will always want to cross the street there?