In recent years, interlayer systems have received considerable attention as viable solutions to enhancing flexible pavement performance. The introduction of these systems to the transportation industry was mainly prompted by the unsatisfactory performance of traditional road materials exposed to dramatic increases and changes in traffic patterns, a need that still exists. Steel reinforcing nettings have been successfully used in Europe for the past two decades to improve HMA resistance to reflective cracking as well as to reinforce pavements. Many of the problems encountered earlier in the US when used welded wire appeared to have been solved by using woven corrosion resistance reinforcing steel. Two of the Virginia Smart Road sections were reinforced to quantify the effectiveness of the reinforcing nettings. In addition to falling weight deflectometer testing and response of reinforced pavements to vehicular loading, a theoretical approach is developed based on 3-Dimensional (3D) finite element modeling to quantify the effect of steel reinforcement. The 3D finite element model accurately simulates steel reinforcement as a non-homogeneous interlayer with openings. Based on the results of the finite element model, shear strain was computed above the crack tip for the reinforced and non-reinforced cases. The obtained shear strain was then used to calculate the number of cycles required for the crack to initiate into the overlay. The use of an intermediate low modulus layer appears to enhance the reinforced pavement system performance. In summer of 2001, steel reinforcement was used in four projects in the US (three in Pennsylvania and one in Delaware ) to evaluate the potential of steel reinforcing nettings to mitigate the reflection of cracks.