Saturday is the first day of autumn and coincidentally, is also the first day of Chicago’s annual fall bridge lift season.

With the boating season nearing its end, the city schedules regular days and times for boat captains to move their sail boats from Lake Michigan to dry dock via the Chicago River.

Every Saturday and Wednesday morning from late September through mid November, the Chicago Department of Transportation raises movable bridges sequentially along the main and south branches of the river to allow these tall masted ships to pass without obstruction.

“The City coordinates with local boat storage yards each year to create a schedule that accommodates boats while creating the least amount of impact on downtown street traffic,” said CDOT Commissioner Gabe Klein.

These boat runs begins at the lakefront with the Lake Shore Drive bridge and ends, 26 bridges later at the Ashland Ave. bridge on the south branch of the river. According to CDOT each bridge lasts 8-12 minutes.

Saturday morning is the first day on the schedule for this fall’s bridge lift and it begins at 9 AM.

Avoid driving downtown and/or along the Chicago River tomorrow morning. Otherwise you may spend part of the first day of fall stuck waiting for a raised bridge to be lowered.

Here’s Chicago’s full fall bridge lift schedule.

• Saturday, September 22nd at 9 a.m.
• Wednesday, September 26th at 9:30 a.m.
• Saturday, September 29th at 9 a.m.
• Wednesday, October 3rd at 9:30 a.m.
• Saturday, October 6th at 9 a.m.
• Wednesday, October 10th at 9:30 a.m.
• Saturday, October 13th at 9 a.m.
• Wednesday, October 17th at 9:30 a.m.
• Saturday, October 20th at 9 a.m.
• Wednesday, October 24th at 9:30 a.m.
• Saturday, October 27th at 9 a.m.
• Wednesday, October 31st at 9:30 a.m.
• Saturday, November 3rd at 9 a.m.
• Wednesday, November 7th at 9:30 a.m.
• Saturday, November 10th at 9 a.m.
• Wednesday, November 14th at 9:30 a.m.